The top item was a note from Mace. It simply said “In case I’m not around when you wake up.”
Below the note was a map showing the location of various rooms on that floor. The kitchen, laundry, labs, security office, etc. Under that was a clean towel and a set of scrubs that were pretty close to her size. There was also a silver foil pack of pop tarts.
“Well. How thoughtful.” She smiled at the small pile of comfort that her new friend had so kindly provided. Setting the clothes, towel, and pop tarts down on the table, she took the map and opened it up. Each room was numbered, and there was a legend on one side that listed names next to the corresponding number. She called out “Mace? You around?” just in case he was nearby. At 7:00am he might very well be asleep still. Though she was hungry, she decided breakfast could wait. Grabbing her pack, she removed all the clothes inside and set them on the bed. Then she scooped up the clothes she’d left on the floor the night before, and added them to the pile. After a quick nose wrinkling sniff, she removed the clothes she was wearing and changed into the scrubs. She gathered the whole pile, consulted the map, and headed for the laundry room.
She found six washing machines, and six dryers. All commercial grade. Quickly dividing her pile into two simple piles, “lights” and “darks”, she put them into two of the washers. She took a moment to look for the coin slot, then chuckled to herself. This place wasn’t going to have a coin-operated laundry room. She found detergent and fabric softener on a shelf above the washers, and added both. Then she pushed the “START” button. A timer appeared on a little screen, telling her it would take approximately 30 minutes for the machine to wash her clothes.
The rhythmic thumping the machine made as it got going initially caused her to panic. Noise like that on the surface would certainly draw trouble. She took a deep breath, reminding herself yet again that this was a safe place. She added detergent and started the second machine. Then, locating a chair near the folding table, she took a seat. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the clean scent of the place. Before the truck stop, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been truly clean. She leaned back in her chair and just enjoyed the sensation for a few minutes.
A rumble from her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten since late yesterday morning. She consulted the map quickly, then made her way to the cafeteria. Before she even reached the door, she smelled bacon. Mouth watering, she practically ran the last few steps across the cafeteria and into the kitchen. Mace was there, multiple frying pans on a stove top in front of him, cooking bacon and eggs.
“How the hell do you have bacon?” Shari blurted out. Then she covered her mouth and looked embarrassed. “I mean, good morning, Mace.”
He chuckled at her. “This place was stocked to feed hundreds of people when the world ended. There’s a walk-in freezer over there.” He pointed over his shoulder with a spatula. “We ate most of the meat in the first few weeks. But I saved some for special occasions. I figure this counts.” He grinned at her.
“Would it be inappropriate if I said you are the sexiest man on earth right now?” she teased. “I’d bet a million dollars no other man anywhere could cook me bacon for breakfast!”.
Mace actually blushed at her comment. “I uhh… no. You go right ahead. Feel free to tell me how sexy I am any time you want.” he recovered.
“Ha! Okay, what can I do to help. You made me breakfast yesterday, AND cleaned up after.”
Mace looked around. “We could use some fruit. There’s a few apples in the fridge. Or I think there might be an orange or two left. They won’t be good much longer, so we might as well eat them. If they’ve gone bad, there are some cans of peaches and pears.”
Shari went to go explore the pantry and the fridge. Opening the pantry door, she was shocked by the size of it. This place really had been meant to feed a large crowd. Most of the shelves were empty, but there were a few cans and a bag of potatoes that were starting to grow sprouts. There were also several boxes of pasta and cereal, as well as pop tarts. And jars of pasta sauce, fruit, pickles, and a few other things.
As she stepped out of the pantry, Mace said “I was going to unload all the groceries we got yesterday, but you had the keys, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” She said, as he just waved a hand.
He replied “No biggie. There’s enough here for breakfast and lunch. We’ll unload after breakfast.”
Shari opened the ‘fridge’ door. It was a walk-in, about ten feet deep and six feet wide. These shelves were similarly empty. She quickly found the apples, grabbing a couple and inspecting them. They were still firm, with no visible brown spots. The two remaining oranges seemed okay as well, so she brought out all four.
Grabbing a basket from a shelf in the prep area, she put the fruit in it and carried it to the counter where they had shared breakfast the day before. She grabbed a couple of plates on the way, and two forks. She set the table before sitting down..
Mace came over, setting a plate full of bacon on the table. He spooned scrambled eggs directly from the pan onto the two plates, then set it aside. Taking a seat, he said “I’m sorry, they’re only powdered eggs.”
“They smell delicious! You seasoned them. With what?” Shari asked.
“Pepper, some ground dried onion, parsley flakes, and just a dash of cinnamon.” Mace answered. “I hope it’s not too much. Just a little something I invented while cooking over a hot plate in my dorm room.”
Shari put a healthy forkful of eggs into her mouth. After a few seconds, she rolled her eyes. “SO good!” she said before even swallowing. She snagged several strips of bacon off the serving plate and dropped them on her own. Then she took another mouthful of eggs.
After scarfing down half her eggs and a couple strips of bacon, she slowed down. “I’ve been stuffing my face like a pig!” she apologized.
“Go right ahead. I wouldn’t care if you went face-down in the plate and cookie-monster’d it all. I’m just glad you’re here.” Mace smiled at her.
“Yeah.” Shari’s look turned glum. “Being alone sucks. Gives you way too much time to think.”
Mace laughed. “I’ve been getting emotionally attached to NPCs in Elysia. For a while there, I thought maybe they were going to be the only people I was ever going to be able to talk to again.”
Shari looked at him for a moment. “I… I’ve been outside. I can’t even imagine being able to close my eyes to play the game in this world. I’m sitting here worried about how much noise we’re making, and the thumping from the washing machine down the hall.”
Mace nodded his head. “I’m sorry. That you had to go through all that. I get worn out just from my short trips outside. Trying to move quietly, to remember to look everywhere. To remember not to walk on the grass or touch a tree.”
Shari shook her head. “If you stay out there long enough, all of that becomes automatic. You don’t even have to think about it. The hard part is finding a way to be safe long enough to sleep. And to sleep quietly. I watched a man killed in a house across the street not long after this all happened. He was snoring. That was it. He was secure in a house, no lights, all good. He was supposed to be on guard duty. But he fell asleep, and started to snore. One of the creatures was on him before we could even get there to wake him.”
“Damn.” Mace said. “That’s… how long were you alone out there?”
“Totally alone? About six weeks.” Shari said. “There was a guy with me until then. He died taking a crap.”
Mace opened his mouth to laugh, but realized she was not joking. “Wow. That’s … harsh.” He didn’t have a response worthy of that statement.
“Yeah. Bertha was originally his. Speaking of which, we should go unload her. I had a ton of food in there even before we raided the grocery store. All together, there’s probably… five or six weeks’ worth of food for the two of us. Plus some guns, med supplies, other stuff.”
Mace was impressed. “You’re like, Lar
a Croft. The survivalist version.” He smiled at her. “We should probably leave at least some of it in there, in case we need to flee in a hurry. A bit of food, med supplies, and some guns. We have plenty down here. Before the others died, we hit a pawn shop that had all kinds of guns. The ones we didn’t lose when folks died are in a locker in the security office. And this place has a full infirmary as well as a couple medical labs. So more than enough med supplies.”
“Med labs?” Shari asked. “What were they doing down here?”
“Testing immersion pods. Like full-on VR immersion. That’s why I was here. They were hiring me to help tweak the code and clean up the sync between the system and the user’s brain.” Mace reached for one of the oranges and began to peel it.
“And you’ve been using one of the pods to play the game? To kill time?”
“Yup. As well as doing some actual work in the lab. And surfing the web, or what’s left of it. Looking for other survivors.” Mace popped a section of orange into his mouth. The cold juice tasted delicious. “Mmmm… you gotta try this.” He peeled off another section and, without even thinking, reached out to place it in Shari’s mouth.
She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the flavor. “Oh, man. I missed that.” She said as she reached for her own orange. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, each of them nibbling on orange sections and remembering the world before it ended.
“So, do you have a pod I could use? We could play the game together.” Shari asked.
“There are more than a dozen of them. So, yeah. I moved mine to my room. We can do the same for you. It’ll take about a day to disconnect it, move it, and reconnect. Then test to make sure it’s safe. In the meantime you can use one in the lab.”
Shari nodded her head. Looking at the serving plate that still held several strips of bacon, she said “Can’t let this go to waste!” She took half for herself, and dumped the rest on Mace’s plate. “There’s always room for bacon!”
When the two of them had consumed all of the food, except the apples, they worked together to clean up. Afterwards, Mace took Shari up to the 1st underground level. There was a wide array of maintenance equipment in a room near the elevator, including a pallet dolly and a few wooden pallets. They set a pallet on the dolly and pulled it onto the elevator with them.
Exiting the elevator on the lobby level, they pushed the pallet dolly to the garage door entrance and left it just inside. Mace opened the door, and they took several minutes to make sure the garage was clear. Not hearing or seeing anything, they proceeded to unload Bertha onto the pallet. When they were done, it was stacked six feet high with boxes and bags, and both of them had full bags on their shoulders.
Shari locked Bertha up, and they pulled the dolly full of supplies back to the elevator. Back down on the 30th level, they wheeled the whole pile to the kitchen, where they unloaded all the food supplies. That was the bulk of the load. The guns and other weapons they took to the security office. Though they each kept a shotgun, and a pistol in their rooms, just in case. Mace also kept his sword with him
With a month’s food at least in the pantry, and no particular need to go outside anytime soon, they began to talk about the game.
Shari began the conversation as they were loading guns into the security locker. “So what kind of character do you play in Elysia?”
Mace chuckled. “I uhh… was feeling a little antisocial when I started the game. I chose to play a drow, and start in Immernacht. The underground city. My guy’s a sorcerer/assassin.”
Shari nodded her head. “Cool combo. But that’s going to make it difficult for us to play together. I’m a light elf druid. Level 17. I’m in the light elven city of Emarien in the Direwood.”
Mace cringed. Light elves were the mortal enemies of the dark elves. The racial hatred status would mean any attempt by him to visit Shari’s character in Emarien would mean instant death at the hands of any group of light elves he encountered.
He answered. “That does complicate things a bit. My guy is level thirty, and I’m making my way to the surface. But I won’t be able to join you in a light elf city. The guards and the citizens will attempt to kill me on sight.”
Shari didn’t hesitate. “I can leave the light elf city at level 20. It has been a few months, but if I remember right, I have some quests to complete. We could meet in the forest. Maybe travel to some more neutral cities. Like human, or orc. Maybe the dwarves.”
“That would work. I was planning to spend a few days with the grey dwarves. Then I can make my way to the forest. Meanwhile you level up as much as you can. But first, we need to get you situated with a pod.”
He led her to one of the labs, where four pods were set up. Shari took one look at the pods and said “These… are… AWESOME!” she practically danced over to the nearest pod. “I’ve only ever used headgear and a haptic suit.”
“Yes, the experience is something else. And the performance. You’ll find your movement speed, casting speed, everything is faster. Unfortunately, the pain is more real as well. But so is the pleasure. Smell, taste, feel.”
Shari had stuck her head right into the pod’s chamber and was looking around, touching various components. “Sensors. Monitoring sensors.” She pulled her head out and looked at the control console mounted to the side of the pod. “This thing can monitor about a bajillion different physical stats. Heart rate, blood pressure, air intake, saturation, neural activity, blood chemistry, muscle movement…” her voice drifted off as she pushed various buttons in the diagnostics menu.
Mace looked at her. “You sound like you know about this stuff.”
“What?” Shari was only half listening. “Oh, yeah. I was a med student. Final year. Would have been a doctor by now if… well you know.” She went back to pushing buttons on the screen.
“Okay, so the pod uses a nano-gel to keep you suspended while you’re immersed. The nanobots act as both monitors and stimulators. When you move an arm in the game, the muscles in your real-world arm are stimulated. I don’t understand it all 100%, but I can tell you that after a long day in the game, my muscles feel like I’ve been running and fighting.”
Shari grinned at him “I have GOT to test this. Hook me up, baby!”
So between them, they managed to disconnect the pod and move it down the corridors to Shari’s quarters. Mace worked for several hours to rig the wiring so that the pod would have all the necessary power and network connections, testing everything twice. At some point, Shari brought him a bowl of heated spaghettios and the apple he hadn’t eaten that morning. As well as one of her beloved Irish coffee drinks. When he was done, he gave her a quick tutorial on how to operate the pod herself.
Mace looked at her, then at the pod. “Alright. I think you’re all set. My character’s name is Mace, so you won’t have any trouble finding me. If you have a problem with the pod, just shout. I’ll be able to hear you. I’ll wait ten minutes to make sure you’re good before I go under, too.” He stepped toward the door.
“Great! Thanks! I’ll send you a message in-game!” Shari was already undressing as he closed the door behind himself. Smiling at her enthusiasm, he stepped across the hall to his own quarters. It was late afternoon, but he still had three hours until he was scheduled to meet Krieger and visit the master smith.
He waited the promised ten minutes. Not hearing any shouts from Shari, he undressed and crawled into his own pod. Moments later, he opened his eyes in his room at the inn in Svarthold.
Before he could even sit up, a message icon popped up in the top right corner of his UI. He focused on it, and a note, designed to look like calligraphy on old parchment, opened up before him. It was from ‘HotShari’. Mace snorted at the ridiculous name.
“Hi Mace! I hope this gets to you! And don’t laugh at my name. I was drunk, okay?!”
Mace was surprisingly pleased by this simple note. He’d been searching for another player for so long. He responded. “Came through just fine. And I would never laugh
at such an accurate and well-thought-out name!” He worried a bit that the response was lame or too forward, but it was already sent.
He added ‘HotShari’ to his friends list. The only name on the list. He shook his head, and headed out into the city.
The first place he went was to the large market he’d seen on the way in. It didn’t take him long to notice a trend as he walked among the vendors, inspecting a wide variety of goods. Though dark elves were accepted in Svarthold, they were generally not trusted. Vendors would pause in their discussions with other customers in order to keep an eye on him. Prices quoted him were slightly higher than he’d heard quoted to previous customers. Everyone seemed polite enough, and he didn’t blame them really. Dark elves had earned their reputation. He decided to ignore the treatment and just enjoy the day.
He found an alchemist’s booth, where he purchased a few spell components, and a couple of healing potions. A jewel merchant had an earring with +2 intellect for 10 gold. A weaponsmith had a beautiful set of slender black metal daggers that sorely tempted Mace. But he held off, deciding to wait and see what Krieger’s smith had to offer.
Mace was leaving the market, when a vendor near the outer edge caught his attention. “Sir dark elf! Wait! I have the perfect item for you!”
Mace had heard the same phrase a hundred times walking through the market. But this time the voice was soft, sort of sultry, with a purring undertone. He turned to find that the voice belonged to a lovely catwoman with silver fur. She wore tight-fitting leather armor that amounted to little more than a fancy bikini, and squeezed parts of her in just the right way. She waved for Mace to approach.
“Ah, good. You come to see what Felina has to offer, yes.” She smiled at him, showing off impressive feline fangs. “I know just what you needs.” She purred.
Mace began to think maybe what she was selling was more of a service than an item. And he had to admit to himself, he was a little intrigued.
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